Leo
by GryffindorCriss
Summary: Tina's fellow Aurors are attacked in Bulgaria, prompting her (and a reluctant Newt) to visit them despite the fact that she's thirty-weeks pregnant. Things don't quite go according to plan, however, when the camp is ambushed. (Or: "The story of Leo Scamander's birth")


**According to the Pregnancy page on the Harry Potter Wikia (yes, it exists), Healers don't recommend that witches use Portkeys during their pregnancies – or, to quote, they recommend that "pregnant witches refrain from travelling by Portkey". This was also apparently taken from the Pottermore page on Portkeys, so I'm calling it canon. As for Apparating, I'd think that it would be far from safe to travel like that – it's so easy to splinch yourself even if you're _not_ pregnant, let alone if you're heavily so.**

 **I'm not sure what the limit on Flooing is (whether you could actually Floo to another country, whether it's allowed for pregnant women), but it seemed like a safer option to go with than Portkey or Apparation.**

 **Oh, also, "incubation bubbles" are (in my mind) the wizarding world version of an incubation machine. You know how Harry used a Bubble-Head Charm in GoF to breathe under water? It's kind of like that. It probably doesn't actually work, but just go with it.**

 **Anywho, enjoy!**

* * *

Newt simply didn't think that _this_ was a good idea at all.

He knew that Tina wanted to do whatever she could during the war, even if she was incapable of actually fighting physically at this current moment, and that many of her colleagues in the Auror department whom she had been friendly with had been sent to fight so she inevitably missed them. He knew that she had been worried sick when the news broke of the British defence being ambushed in Bulgaria, but visiting them in a medical tent close to the _front lines_ of a battle? He was quite sure she'd lost her mind.

"Tina, dear, you're thirty weeks pregnant-"

"Yes, _pregnant_ ," Tina retorted. "I'm not an invalid, for goodness sake! I'm more than capable of using my wand still, Newt! Besides, I'll only be visiting for one afternoon – and then I'll come straight home."

He knew better than to argue with her, especially when she was so far along in her pregnancy – her hormones were all over the place, and it was a battle he had little chance of winning.

With that in mind, Newt had insisted that he at least come with her when she went to visit; it would have made him feel slightly easier about the whole thing, knowing where she was and that she wasn't in danger. Thankfully, Tina had agreed to this and allowed him to travel with her; he was still uncomfortable about her visiting somewhere so close to a battleground, but at least he could be with her.

They had left Phoenix and Linnet with his mother for a few days, just to be safe (on her request, actually – if Newt remembered correctly, her exact words had been: " _I raised you and Theseus, Newt, I'm sure I can handle these two!_ ") before setting off. Again, Newt had felt slightly uneasy at leaving their two eldest children at such a time, but he knew that his mother would take care of them.

As Apparition and Portkeys were most certainly out of the question, according to the Healers at St. Mungo's, Flooing appeared to be their only option; it wasn't exactly one-hundred-percent safe for the baby, much to Newt's discomfort, but it was the safest option other than muggle transportation – which could have taken them _days_. Tina had somehow managed to convince the Head of the Floo Network Authority at the Ministry to set up a brief connection between their Floo Network and the Bulgarian Floo Network (Newt strongly suspected she had been successful due to her status as a fully-qualified, top-of-the-department Auror), and so the two had an hour slot in which to travel. The connection would apparently be open again a few hours later for their return to Britain.

Tina went first with Newt following quickly afterwards; he was relieved when he stumbled out of the fireplace and saw his wife waiting, relatively unharmed – though she _did_ look rather green.

"I'm fine," She assured him weakly, waving him off when he tried to examine her. "It's just that the spinning made me…made me dizzy, that's all." She suddenly lurched. " _Mercy Lewis_ …"

Newt looked around and hurriedly reached for a flower pot that had been left beside the fireplace, holding it beneath her – it was just in time, too, as she was then violently sick. He tried not to wince at the sound of her retching.

"I _hate_ Floo Powder," She muttered when she had finished, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "The Minister is going to kill us when he sees _that_."

"Perhaps I could…er..." He pulled his wand from his coat, pointed it at the pot and muttered, " _Scourgify_ …it's not completely clean, but perhaps they won't notice?"

They were welcomed by the Head of the Bulgarian Floo Network just a few minutes later, somewhat stiffly, who then proceeded to show them the way out of the building; a small car was waiting to take them to the campsite of the Aurors, and they were told that the driver would be back at the campsite in the late evening in order to bring them back to the Floo point.

The Auror team that had been sent over were currently staying in a small wooded area a few miles away from the nearest town; roughly twelve wizards had been injured during a fight and were being treated in a small medical tent at the base. The car took them to edge of the treeline before the driver stopped and said that they would have to walk the rest of the way. Tina had huffed at this but gotten out of the car quickly – Newt could only follow behind as closely as he could, wary of the possible danger in the area and with a hand resting on the handle of his wand, _just in case_.

The walk wasn't too long, roughly twenty minutes, but Tina was still rather tired when they reached the camp due to her pregnancy; she seemed rather agitated too, Newt thought, as she rolled her eyes when the guards asked her for identification.

"I'm an Auror for the British Ministry," She told them testily, pulling her I.D. card from her coat pocket – she kept it on her person at all times to be on the safe side – and handing it to the taller of the men. "Dawkins said he would let you know I was coming."

He seemed only somewhat satisfied with this as he handed it back to her. "He did, Mrs Scamander, but you can't be too careful nowadays. What about _you_?" He asked, looking at Newt suspiciously. "Have you got any identification?"

Newt blinked, rather surprised by this. "Well…"

"He's my husband," Tina stated. "Newt Scamander – he wrote _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_. I can vouch for him."

Neither of the guards looked very convinced. "Unfortunately, Mrs Scamander," The second guard said slowly. "Unless he has papers to prove who he is, we can't let him into the base."

Tina looked just about ready to hex him, so Newt hurriedly stepped forwards. "Well, I _do_ have my passport on me if that helps."

The guards looked at each other; a few long seconds passed before the taller one finally nodded. His companion sighed in defeat as he held out his hand. "Alright, it'll have to do."

* * *

"…There's more men than we anticipated, Tina, I'm telling you…we thought it would just be a few crazy fanatics, but _no_ … _no,_ of course not!"

Tina was watching Dawkins as he talked, both hands rested absent-mindedly on her swollen abdomen as she gnawed her lip. "I'm sorry things didn't work out. I was absolutely terrified when I heard that several wizards had been killed…But I'm glad you're alright, Dawkins."

'Alright' seemed like a rather nice way of putting it, Newt thought; he'd met Tina's colleague a few times (he had never liked going to the formal engagements arranged by the Ministry to celebrate the Aurors' work, even though Tina herself was an Auror), but he looked _dreadful_. When he'd last seen him, just eight months ago, Dawkins had been a rather handsome young man with smooth dark hair and a kind grin – now he was sporting a large cut across his cheek, his nose broken in several places, and he had a bandage over one eye…apparently it was quite possible he'd lose it forever.

Despite all of this, Dawkins had that same grin on his face. "Yeah, I'll be fine. _You_ , on the other hand…Merlin, Tina, you're _really_ pregnant!"

"Observant as always," She deadpanned.

"No, what I mean is that you shouldn't be _here_ ," He explained earnestly. "This is the middle of a _war_ – there's battlegrounds not five miles away! You shouldn't have come, not while you're pregnant…"

She sighed, shaking her head at him. "You and Newt both seem to think I'm an invalid – I'm not, you know, just very fat and very sore. Besides, I wanted to see that you were all okay after what happened: you're my team, remember? If it weren't for this baby, I would have probably been with you."

Newt knew what the wistful look on her face meant; he knew that she wished she _had_ been there to fight, to protect all of her fellow Aurors, even if it was likely she would have been seriously injured or killed too. He, personally, couldn't help but feel glad that she hadn't gone.

"You're always so stubborn," Dawkins muttered, though there was obvious affection behind it. "Anyway, enough of all this talk of the war for now – I want to know how the kids are doing."

"They're fine," Tina told him, though she looked annoyed by the change of subject. "Linnet can walk practically by herself now, and Phoenix has started speaking in sentences…they're only short, but it's still something."

Her colleague was chuckling to himself now, rather amused. "How nice! He still playing with that demiguise of yours?"

"Yes…but Newt has started letting him ride the Graphorns now," At this, she shot her husband a bemused look. "I think he's starting to prefer them to Dougal now."

"Not that Dougal minds," Newt added, unable to keep himself from smiling at the thought of his creatures _and_ his children together. "Linnet is quite taken with him already."

"It makes me wish I had kids," Dawkins mused, and though he was smiling he still looked somewhat saddened. "I thought that perhaps…once the war was over…I could settle down and start a family, you know? But now with _this_ -" He gestured uselessly to the bandage of his right eye. "I'm not exactly going to be a woman's first choice, am I?"

Tina frowned, clearly moved by this proclamation. "Don't say that! Your eye could still heal – and besides, you're a very brave, very kind man. It's not just about how you look."

"You're too nice," He said, and his lips curled upwards as his voice took on a joking tone. "Perhaps I should just marry you."

She laughed loudly at this. "Sorry, Dawkins, I'm already taken – and quite happily, for that matter!"

"Ah, well. Worth a try." He shot Newt an apologetic look. "No offence intended, Mr Scamander."

Newt was about to say that it was alright, more out of politeness than anything else, but before he could Tina let out a loud wince; both men looked at her curiously, and she went bright red.

"Sorry…must have been the baby kicking."

Dawkins chuckled, opening his mouth to make another joke – but then there was a loud blood-curdling scream. The medical tent fell eerily quiet immediately.

Suddenly the flaps of the enlarged tent opened and a portly wizard in black robes ran in; he was clutching his wand and waving it about erratically, face bright purple.

"ATTACK! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"

And then there was chaos.

All of the wizards and witches in the tent – medi-witches and those being treated alike – were jumping up, out of beds and off of chairs, grabbing their wands and either joining the fight or apparating away as quickly as they could; Dawkins threw the covers off of himself and grabbed his own wand from the side-table.

"Tina, Newt, you need to go _now_ -"

People were running around, yelling and shouting loudly; spells and curses were being fired rapidly from outside the tent, getting closer and closer.

"Dawkins-"

"Tina, please," Dawkins was desperately trying to pull Tina up from her seat; Newt put an arm around his wife and helped her stand. "Please, just this once, do as I say – I'll be fine, but you need to get out of here!"

"But we can't apparate!" Tina protested weakly, one hand still on her bulging stomach. "I'm… _oohh…_ " She let out another wince. "I'm…too far along to apparate!"

A green flash burst into the tent; there was a collective scream of terror from those remaining inside the tent.

Dawkins looked at the flash and then back at Tina hurriedly. "Tina…"

"We can't apparate," Newt repeated hurriedly, his grip on his wife suddenly much tighter. "Apparition could hurt the baby."

The younger wizard sighed. "Alright, alright…then you both need to run or hide. I don't know where, but you need to _run_ and get out of sight before it's too late-"

He was cut off by the sound of more curses being shot into the tent; a few of Grindelwald's followers had entered.

"Bugger…The two of you need to go," Dawkins hurriedly stated, letting go of Tina's arm. "Look, there's a building we're using as barracks in the camp; it's made of bricks, relatively new, and while I can't guarantee it'll be safe it's bound to be safer than this bloody tent. It'll be empty as well, I suspect, everyone will be fighting; I'll…I'll try and cover you if you want to make a run for it, but I don't know how many are out there…"

"Thank you, Dawkins," Tina said, voice barely louder than a whisper; her eyes were filled with tears and she looked absolutely _terrified_.

"Yes," Newt agreed hurriedly. "Thank you."

Dawkins nodded, gripping his wand in his hand. "Alright; remember, try and duck for cover as often as you can. I'll distract and take out as many of them as possible, and I know that the other Aurors will fight too, but just…have your wands ready, to be on the safe side."

Newt pulled his wand from his pocket and held it tightly – being honest, he was unsure as to how well this plan would work, but they didn't have any _better_ plans to try instead.

"Okay," Dawkins said slowly. "Go."

Still holding hands (for Newt was _certainly_ not going to let go of Tina under _any_ circumstances), the two of them ran to crouch behind an abandoned bed; Dawkins ran forwards and started firing spells. Cautiously, Newt lifted his head to examine what exactly was going on, whether it was safe to move: he could see at least two wizards sporting Grindelwald's sign on their robes ahead, but whether or not it would be possible to run and avoid their spells…

Dawkins looked over at Newt before following his gaze; when he looked back at the other wizard, he was nodding. "I've got it."

As the Auror started firing disarming spells at the two wizards, Newt squeezed Tina's hand. "Right, over there!"

They managed to duck behind an overturned table just as a green burst of light missed them; Tina was breathing heavily, the hand not holding her husband's on her stomach. "I'm…I'm fine…" She panted, though her face was twisting in discomfort.

"Just breathe, Tina," He murmured to her, though he couldn't help but worry. "I'll make sure you get out safely, I promise."

She sent him a rather anxious look. "But what about you? Do you honestly think I'm going to leave you _here_?"

"If it means the baby is safe, then yes!" She didn't look at all comforted by this idea, so he leaned in and looked her in the eyes. "We're getting out of here – I promise, Tina, we're getting out of here."

With that, he peered around the edge of the wooden table; a red curse flew past, missing him by mere inches. Dawkins seemed to notice this and shot another disarming spell at someone.

"Newt, Tina, you need to be _quick_!"

"We're trying!" Tina snapped, and when she turned to her husband she had a determined look on her face. "Okay; you see that…that table over there? If we can get to that, then we could easily make a run for the exit of the tent."

"And then what?" Newt questioned quietly. "There'll be more outside."

She seemed to consider this for a long moment, looking from the table ahead of them to where her hand lay on her bump. "I know that you're not meant to when you're pregnant, but…but perhaps we could apparate."

"No. _Absolutely not_."

"Well, what else are we supposed to do?" She asked frantically. "Even if we can run for the exit of the base, Grindelwald's followers are probably surrounding the area."

"Tina," Newt said firmly. "We're _not_ apparating. I don't know how, but we'll figure _something_ out…"

Tina looked at him, and he was somewhat surprised to see that she was close to tears. "I'm _terrified_ , Newt. I'm actually completely _terrified_ that we won't make it out of this alive."

"We will," He assured her, though he was scared himself. "If we stay together then we can find a way… Come on, we need to keep moving."

Holding his wand at the ready, he peered around the edge of the table again; Dawkins was duelling a tall bearded wizard, and several other Aurors were fighting multiple wizards ardently.

"Alright," Newt muttered, preparing himself; he tightened his grip on Tina's hand. "We're going to run for that table; I'm going to cast _Protego_ while we run – hopefully it will cover us long enough to get there."

"Sounds like a plan," She agreed, though her voice was weak. "I'm ready when you are."

He waited until the closest enemy had their back turned before lurching forwards, Tina moving with him; without hesitating, he pointed his wand in the direction of the fighting and shouted the spell. It proved to be rather effective, he realized, as three spells suddenly flew towards them and bounced off of the shield created – the two of them just about made it to the table before the spell failed and left them unprotected.

Tina was breathing harshly again, doubled over, and he turned to her in worry. "Tina…"

"I'm…I'm fine, Newt, just…just _terrified_ and…and sore."

He wasn't so sure about this but he knew that there wasn't a lot to be done about it. "We're nearly there, Tina…well, we're nearly at the tent flap. The barracks Dawkins was talking about won't be far."

"But…what use is a barracks going to do?" She questioned. " _They_ could easily blow it apart!"

"That's right, they could," Newt admitted. "But we don't have anywhere else to go – our driver isn't meant to come back until later this evening, and we need to get out of sight."

There were a few grunts, and when he lifted his head to look he saw that Dawkins had taken down two other wizards in quick succession. He looked over at where Newt and Tina were hiding before lifting his wand again. "It's okay! Just get outside and get to the barracks – I'll cover you out there!"

Newt nodded at him before looking at his wife. "Alright, _now_ we make a run for it…Tina, if worst comes to worst and we get attacked outside – if Dawkins can't help us – then…then you need to get yourself to that building, and I'll…I'll fight them off."

"No!" Tina disagreed fiercely. " _I'm_ the trained Auror, not you! If I'm running, then you're running _with me_." She pulled her own wand from her coat pocket and gripped it tightly. "We'll both fight as we run – if anyone is ahead or near us, then we stun them as we go."

It was a reckless plan, to say the least – but, again, it was the only one that they had.

"YOU TWO!" They heard Dawkins yell. "GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE _RIGHT NOW_!"

With that, the two of them started for the entrance of the tent as quickly as they could; they were running, desperate to make it...they were _almost_ there when a Killing Curse sailed past, only _barely_ missing Tina's protruding stomach.

As an Auror, Tina liked to think she could remain calm and level-headed in any dangerous situation – and normally she _could_. But not now, not whilst she was thirty-weeks pregnant, not when there were two small children waiting for her at home, not when a spell had only barely missed killing her and her baby.

So she panicked and did the only thing she could think to do – she closed her eyes and apparated.

* * *

Newt's head was spinning as fell to the ground, feeling rather like he'd been forced through a very tiny thin tube. It took him a moment to regain his bearings, but he noticed several things at once.

Firstly, they were no longer in the tent in the Auror base but in a quiet forest area but rather in a dimly lit building. Secondly, he could hear the sounds of shouting and yelling nearby – when he listened carefully, he recognized the names of various spells and curses. His head was hurting, he was sweating-

Tina wasn't holding his hand anymore.

He pushed himself up immediately, ignoring the lurch in his stomach as his head swayed, and scanned the dark building for his wife. "Merlin… Tina?" The only light was a single lantern that had been left lit; he hurriedly lit the end of his wand and looked around desperately for any sign of her.

Newt found himself incredibly relieved to see the familiar blue-grey fabric of Tina's favourite coat, and he ran over to her; she was huddled in the corner of the room, doubled over in pain and close to _sobbing_.

"Newt…" She groaned weakly, blindly reaching out for him; he took her hands and tilted his wand so that he could see her face; she was sporting a nasty graze across her cheek from when she had fallen, and had tear tracks down her cheeks. "Newt, I…It _hurts_ …It hurts _so much_ …"

He cupped her face with one hand, trying to comfort her while looking for any other injuries; other than the graze and how pale she was, she appeared fine. "Why did you do that, Tina?" He whispered, not even able to muster the will to feel angry. "Merlin, Tina, you could have hurt yourself o-or the baby! In fact, you _have_ – you're in pain!"

"No, I…I _am_ , but I think I'll be fine in a minute," She reiterated, though she was clutching her stomach. "I just…need to get out of here. I want to get out of here and go _home_. I don't care when that stupid Floo Network is set up, I want to go home _now_."

"I know…I know, love, so do I," He couldn't help but sigh, lowering his wand and wrapping an arm around her. "But it looks like we're going to be stuck here for a while until the Bulgarian Ministry sends reinforcements in…that or Grindelwald's followers are gone."

Tina actually _whimpered_ against him. "I'm _scared_ now, Newt. My…My stomach _is_ hurting and I'm in so _much_ pain; what if I _did_ hurt the baby when we apparated? If something's happened to them, then it'll be all my fault…"

"You did what you could," He told her softly, and he rested one hand on her abdomen. "It might not have been the… _safest_ or most advisable thing, I agree, but it doesn't matter anymore. What matters is that we need to keep going."

There was a loud shout from outside, and the ground seemed to shake beneath them; Newt's grip on Tina involuntarily tightened as she leaned against him, shaking profusely.

"Tina…"

"It's probably just Braxton Hicks," She said quickly, trying to brush it off. "Yes, it's Braxton Hicks, like the Healer told us about. It's not important – they'll go away in a minute."

Newt didn't know what to say to that, instead standing to look around; the barrack was rather small, filled with unmade bunkbeds. There was a small cupboard, presumably full of supplies, in the corner.

"I'm going to see if there's another lantern," He murmured to her, already walking across the room. "Perhaps there'll be some pain potions too."

"I'm fine," She told him weakly.

But she wasn't fine at all, as much as she wanted to deny it; if she wasn't mistaken, the pain was _almost_ like contractions. Of course, it _couldn't_ possibly have been contractions, not yet, not at thirty-weeks – not _here_ , in the middle of a Bulgarian wood whilst being under attack. No, it wasn't, she told herself firmly: it _had_ to be Braxton Hicks.

Tina didn't know how, but she managed to stand up and take a few steps towards one of the beds; perhaps she just needed to sit down, she reasoned, take some weight off of her feet. Once she was seated, she placed her hands on her swollen abdomen and gently rubbed, hoping it might ease some of the cramping – she just hoped that the baby hadn't been hurt when she'd apparated, that she hadn't put their life at risk with her decision.

"There's no other lanterns, but I've found some candles," Newt muttered from across the room. "It's going to have to do."

She watched, gnawing on her lip, as he cast a few _Incendio_ charms to light the candles before placing them on the side-tables beside the bunkbeds; he was right, it wasn't a great deal of light but it _was_ better than nothing.

"How are you feeling?" He asked when he had finished, coming to sit beside her. "Is the pain subsiding?"

"Mmm…I don't know," She sighed, still caressing the bump. "It's coming in waves…OH! OW!"

She let out a few curse words as she doubled over again, keening in pain; Newt had one hand on her back immediately, rubbing soft circles on her back to comfort her, whilst the other gripped her shoulder.

This was _not_ happening, Tina thought in horror.

"Tina, dear, I don't think these are Braxton Hicks," Newt said cautiously, and his eyes were wide with worry. "I think that these might be _contractions_."

"No, they can't be!" Tina argued immediately, tearing up again. "I'm not due for another _ten weeks_ , I'm not having this baby _now_! N-Not here!"

He held her against him, still massaging circles into the small of her back, and pressed a light kiss to the side of her head. "If the contractions are happening now, I don't think you have a lot of choice in the matter…"

"I'm _not_ having this baby now!" She snapped half-heartedly – but then she let out a loud groan, much like an animal in pain. "I…I can't have this baby now, Newt, not now…"

"Well…we might have some time," He tried to assure her weakly, not knowing what else to do. "I'm sure reinforcements will arrive soon, they'll drive Grindelwald's followers away, and…and then we can get you to a hospital-"

"You don't understand!" She cried, shaking her head. "It's too early – I'm not meant to be doing this for another ten weeks! The baby, it's too soon for them to come out…this is my fault…if I hadn't apparated, none of this would have happened…"

Newt was quiet as he said, "Tina, you were in pain even before we apparated – I think it was the attack that brought it on, not apparating."

Tina let out a deep exhale, shoulders heaving. "You're…You're right… _Mercy_ …"

"Perhaps we can…try to make this less painful," He suggested. "If we walk around the space – you can lean on me – then maybe it might ease the cramps a little bit. A-And maybe you need to relax a bit, that might make things easier…"

She bit her lip. "I don't want to have this baby in here."

"I know," He acknowledged. "Hopefully, with any luck, the reinforcements will arrive and we can get to a hospital before-"

He was cut off by giving the most painful, low-pitched moan he'd ever heard – she was clutching his hand painfully, digging her nails into his skin as it felt like she was being torn from the inside out. It felt like someone was tugging inside her stomach, like a chord was being pulled.

And then she felt a _pop_.

"Oh…no…I think…" She looked up at him, tears streaking down her face. "Newt, I think my water just broke!"

Newt was frozen for all of two seconds – and then he seemed to come to his senses, nodding his head as he removed his coat. "Alright, so we're _not_ waiting for reinforcements or hospitals apparently – we're going to have to do this now."

"No, no, Newt, I can't-"

"Yes," He told her calmly, standing up from the bed. "You can, Tina. I know you can do this…and I'm going to help you."

" _You_?!" She repeated incredously. "You're not a trained Healer!"

He had already started towards the supply cabinet. "No, but I _have_ had experience in delivering babies – not human babies, I'll admit, but there can't be much difference between a Graphorn birth and a human birth really-"

"Newton Scamander, you are _not_ delivering this baby!"

"Tina, dear, I'm afraid there doesn't appear to be any other choice. Let me see…we can use the blankets from the beds as towels…I wonder if there's a tub we could use as water, or some pain potion…"

She let out a howl as another contraction hit her.

"Right. Perhaps not." Newt hurriedly scanned the rest of the contents in the cupboard before sighing. "No, there's no pain potions in here." With that, he walked over to the nearest bed and started to pull the sheets from it. "Tina, just focus on breathing – I'll be over in a minute."

"Newt, I don't think…I don't think I'm going to be able to last much longer…" Tina choked out, leaning back on the bed she had been sitting on. "I think…I think I'll need to push _very_ soon…"

"That's fine," He assured her, though he wasn't at all confident in what he was doing; he came back over to her, blankets and sheets in his arms. "Alright we'll need to take some of your clothes off."

Newt helped her remove her coat, hanging it on the corner of the bed post, before helping her to pull down her trousers.

"I'm surprised you _can_ wear trousers."

"They're charmed to stretch."

"Oh."

Despite being married for several years and having two children (with a third just about to enter this world, it seemed), he couldn't help but go red as he watched her take off her underwear – it just seemed _so_ indecent to be viewing her in this way, in the middle of having a baby. Tina didn't seem to share this concern – she was probably in too much pain to really care, he supposed.

"Newt, I…I think I _need_ to push," Tina groaned, reaching out for his hand again.

Newt hurriedly reached for the blankets he had taken from the other bed and opened it out. "Alright, Tina, that's perfect – I've got the blanket ready, and I-I'll make sure I'm there to…erm…catch the baby."

"You better be!"

As it turned out, assisting in a human birth was actually rather different than a creature birth – he had already been present to see their first two children being born, of course, but all he had really done during those times was squeeze his wife's hand and ramble to distract her. This time he was actually having to coax her to push, having to see when the baby's head was crowning, making sure he had the blankets ready. To add, creatures didn't talk nearly as much as humans did – they were vocal most of the time when giving birth, yes, but it was usually grunts and moans.

Which, to be fair, Tina was making anyway.

"I can see the head!" Newt exclaimed when he went to take a look. "Tina, love, there's a head!"

"Great…I was wondering whether they'd have one!" She gritted out sarcastically, struggling to push through the pain. "I wish there was…was some kind of potion in here…"

Newt sighed, rubbing her knuckles with his thumb. "I know, Tina; I looked but there's nothing in that cupboard…I could look around again-"

The scream she let out made him stop talking – there was no way he would leave her alone now, not when she was in this condition.

It felt like hours that they struggled together, trying to bring their baby into the world safely, but in all actuality it was no more than half-an-hour; when the baby's head was almost completely out of the birth canal, Newt reluctantly left Tina's side to gather the blanket once more, ready to catch the baby when it finally fully emerged.

"That's it, Tina…you're doing so well…you're so brave, so strong…so beautiful…"

Tina _really_ didn't feel it, lying in a dimly-lit room with her legs spread open and giving birth.

"Merlin's beard…just a few more pushes!" He encouraged eagerly, face suddenly lighting up. "Just a few more pushes and they'll be here – you can do it, Tina, you can!"

When the baby finally arrived, there was a near silence in the air. It made Tina's skin crawl as she lifted her head to look at where her husband was standing by the foot of the bed; he was wrapping the new-born in the thin blanket he had found, almost anxiously.

"Newt…"

"He's fine," He said hurriedly, though his smile had faded. "I…The Healers did something when Phoenix and Linnet were born, something to get them to breathe and cry…here, let me…" He lifted the baby into his arms, rocking it on the spot as he rubbed circles onto their back.

There was a long, tense moment where the two of them waited – and then the baby let out a quiet little cry.

"Oh, thank Merlin," Newt breathed, holding their child close to him. "He's fine…he's fine…"

Tina was so relieved that it didn't quite register in her mind at first – but then it did and she couldn't help but gape at her husband. " _He_? Newt, is it…"

"Yes," Newt agreed, voice cracking just a tad. " _He_. And _he_ 's absolutely beautiful."

"Let me see…let me see him, Newt." When he passed her the bundle, she couldn't help but beam down tearily at the baby – she didn't even care that she was bleeding still, or that she had the afterbirth to deal with still, because this was their son and he was remarkable. "Hello there…your daddy was right about you…you're _beautiful_."

He _was_ beautiful, even if he _was_ too small, even if he was struggling to breathe, because he was _theirs_.

* * *

Dawkins had been absolutely petrified when Tina and Newt disappeared inside the tent; first of all, he hadn't been quite sure as to what had happened due to the fact he'd been fighting off several dark wizards. In the end he had come to the conclusion that they had apparated – which was even more worrying as he didn't know where they might have gone or whether Tina and the baby would be alright.

The Bulgarian Ministry had sent in two teams of their top Aurors, and thankfully they had managed to drive Grindelwald's followers off with no casualties (though James Moseley had been subjected to the Cruciatus Curse, much to his team-mates' horror). Their camp was slightly worse for wear, unfortunately, with several tents having been destroyed – but other than that, they had really been quite lucky.

"We'll have to move the entire camp," He heard the leader of their team, John Whitehill, sigh. "The ones who escaped will know where we are and come back with more men – perhaps even Grindelwald himself. There's nothing else for it."

Despite the advice of the medi-witches, Dawkins insisted on searching the area for Newt and Tina – if something had happened to his old partner…he didn't even want to think about it. He _needed_ to know that the two of them – and their unborn baby – were safe.

 _Let me think_ , He thought quickly, _I told them to get out of the tent and…and go to the barracks! Perhaps they **did**_ _go there_.

Pushing past several wizards and nearly tripping over the debris from the ambush, Dawkins made his way to the small brick building being used as their barracks and pushed open the door; the corridor was dark, no light available at all, so he lit up the tip of his wand and peered around. There were several doors leading off into different rooms – he dearly hoped that Newt and Tina had found their way into one of them.

"Tina?" He called, voice echoing in the dark emptiness. "Newt?...It's alright, it's me! We've driven off Grindelwald's followers for now – it's safe!"

For a moment there was absolute silence, and he wondered if they really hadn't found their way here – but then he heard the sound of a cry in one of the rooms down the hall.

Wand at the ready, just in case, Dawkins quietly set off to find the source of the noise; a low warm light was filtering out from underneath one of the doors, and – with great caution – he pushed it open slowly.

The light was coming from the furthest corner of the room – and Dawkins found himself ridiculously relieved to see both Tina and Newt sat on one of the beds together.

"You have no idea how glad I am to see you, Tina!" He exclaimed, rushing forwards to greet them. "I was terrified that you had-…oh."

To his amazement, the two Scamanders weren't alone – and Tina was no longer heavily pregnant. No, she was cradling the tiniest little baby Dawkins had ever seen in his entire life; it was certainly smaller than Phoenix and Linnet Scamander had both been when he'd seen them as babies, and currently wrapped in one of the barrack's blankets.

"Tina…"

She looked up at him; her hair was a mess, eyes bright red, face puffy – but she was smiling tiredly, all the same, and that made her look positively lovely. "It's a boy. We've got another boy."

Newt was grinning too, eyes shining with tears, as he looked between Dawkins and his son. "He's wonderful, isn't he?"

Dawkins swallowed, examining the baby's wisps of reddish-brown hair – like Newt's – and the tiny little features. "He _is_ rather nice; I'll give you that, but…just how early is he?"

"Ten weeks," Tina said, and he noticed that her grip on the baby tightened just a bit. "We…We really need to get to a hospital, Dawkins. He needs to be looked at by…by a professional."

On closer inspection, the baby was almost _too_ small; he was breathing rather shallowly, taking in deep breaths and pausing before exhaling them. Dawkins found himself nodding. "Of course. I'll go and find one of the medi-witches, they'll be able to get you to a hospital…I think the nearest wizarding hospital might be St. Sofia's. Can you walk?"

"Of course I can," Tina admonished quietly, though it was also with a large amount of fondness too. "I just…might be a bit slow."

"She was remarkable," Newt added, looking at his wife proudly. "She did this without any pain potion or Healers – she's _amazing_."

Dawkins couldn't help but smile knowingly in agreement. "Yeah, she is."

* * *

As their son had been born ten weeks early, he was immediately taken and rushed to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at St. Sofia's - Tina, meanwhile, was rushed to the Maternity Ward to be examined by a trained Healer. Newt trailed after the medi-witches somewhat uselessly, concerned for both Tina and their new-born son – but he knew it was best to let the Healers do their work and not get in the way.

"Did you help her deliver, Mr Scamander?" Healer Hristo asked curiously after conducting her examination and settling Tina in a bed. When he nodded, she looked impressed. "Well, you did an excellent job – there was minimal bleeding, especially when compared to a normal preterm birth."

"It was all Tina, really," Newt brushed off awkwardly, smiling at his wife. "She did all of the work, not me."

Healer Hristo hummed to herself. "Well, the two of you should feel very proud of yourselves. As for your son, he's going to be in the N.I.C.U. for a few weeks now – just as a precaution," She added quickly when they looked worried. "But so far everything looks good: you've got a real fighter on your hands…a lion-hearted little fighter."

Newt felt himself relax as she left the room and he turned to Tina; she, too, looked rather relieved by this revelation.

"He's going to be okay, isn't he?" She asked tiredly.

"I believe so," He agreed optimistically. "She said that he was 'a fighter' – that bodes rather well, in my opinion."

Tina nodded in agreement, shifting to get comfortable on the bed. "A few weeks…what are we going to do about Phoenix and Linnet? We promised your mother a few days, at the most, not _weeks_."

"I'll have to write her," Newt sighed, settling on the edge of the bed beside her. "Hopefully she won't mind looking after the two of them for a while longer, just until the baby's strong enough to go home."

She let out a tiny groan. "This is all my fault! If I hadn't suggested this stupid trip, then none of this would have happened-"

"No," Newt interrupted carefully. "It wouldn't have, but then I can't say I regret our son being born – even if he _is_ early."

Tina seemed to consider this, leaning back against the pillows of the bed. "That's true, I guess…I just wish he hadn't been _so_ early, you know? I'm going to worry about him for _weeks_."

"And by 'weeks', you mean the rest of your life."

Even she couldn't help but smile half-heartedly at his attempt of a joke. "Yes, for the rest of my life…I'm going to worry about all _three_ of them for the rest of my life, though, aren't I?"

* * *

Dawkins visited a week later, bearing a gift of flowers and a kind smile; even with his eye-patch covering half his face, his excitement was evident.

"Hi, Tina!" He greeted, placing his bouquet on the hospital table beside the bed. "Good to see you, Newt! So, how is the little guy?"

"He's doing well," Tina told him, smiling back somewhat weakly. "The Healers have been talking of trying to move him to St. Mungo's soon – they'd have to enquire about an International Floo connection, of course, which won't be easy but _hopefully_ they'll be able to sort something out. He's been out of the incubation bubble a few times so that we can hold him – he's breathing better now."

"That's great – although, I _was_ hoping to see you guys more before you left," Dawkins admitted, shrugging it off. "Ah, well, I suppose the family need you more than I do... Have you guys thought of a name yet?"

Newt was grinning as he nodded, tucking his hands in his trouser pockets. "It took us a little while to come up with something, but in the end we came up with something…when we first arrived at this hospital, we were told that he was 'lion-hearted' – a brave fighter." He suddenly looked rather proud and pleased. "Brave little lion, he is, it felt only right to give him a name that expressed that-"

"Leo," Tina finished, and when Dawkins looked carefully he saw that she was close to tears – she'd been close to tears a lot lately, he mused. "Leo Scamander."

" _Leo Scamander_?" He repeated, raising an eyebrow at them. "You two sure love your animal names, I have to say…I'm kidding," He amended hurriedly at the tiny glare Tina sent him. "Leo is a great name…and it fits him too. He's gonna be a strong kid, I guarantee it."

Newt and Tina couldn't help but exchange looks of agreement at this, both of them bursting with happiness and pride – if his eventful start was anything to go by, their son really _was_ going to be a fighter.

* * *

"Alright, Phoenix, you have to be gentle with your little brother now…there we are, just let him lie on your lap like that…"

"Daddy! Wan' hol' him!"

"Yes, you can sit up here as well, Lin…there you go! Perfect!"

Tina was beaming to herself as she watched Newt arrange their children on the sofa; Phoenix had been adamant at being able to hold his little brother – like a 'big boy' – and of course Linnet had wanted to be included, as she always did, so Newt had decided to carefully introduce Leo to them while he and Tina were nearby, _just in case_.

Leo was still rather small – smaller than Phoenix and Linnet had both been – but he'd come along fantastically, much to their joy; he could feed properly now, his breathing no longer as shallow as it had once been. The Healers at both St. Sofia's and St. Mungo's had assured the couple that he was very healthy, despite his size.

"Mummy!" Phoenix called to Tina with a grin, dark hair ruffled. "Look! Me and Leo!"

"And me!" Linnet chirped happily.

She laughed at the sight of them so happy. "I can see!"

"Daddy, he is small!" Phoenix announced to Newt, still grinning. "I like him!"

Newt couldn't help but chuckle. "Yes, he is rather small – he's much smaller than the both of you, so do you know what means?"

Linnet looked at the baby and wrinkled her nose. "Too small to pway?"

"Yes," He agreed. "But it also means that you two are going to have to look after him; he's going to need his big brother and big sister to teach him how to play, to make sure he doesn't get hurt. You can even show him our creatures."

Both of the older children looked rather chuffed by this idea.

"Show him Graphorns-!"

"Dougal!"

Leo started sniffling, wriggling about on Phoenix's lap; Newt immediately picked him up, cradling him in the crook of his arm. "I think _someone_ needs Mummy to feed them...and quite possibly a change of nappy."

Tina reached out for him, laughing to herself. "Here, I've got it… Too much excitement, huh?" She joked when she had their son in her arms, tickling his belly.

Linnet leaned forwards to grab onto Newt's waistcoat. "Daddy, pway? Dougal?"

"Let me think…" He chuckled as he picked her up, causing her to squeal in glee, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I think Dougal would _love_ a visit!"

Phoenix was already pushing himself up off the sofa eagerly, face lit up in excitement. "And Niffler? Wanna tickle him!...Oh, wanna ride Graphorn!"

Their family was mad, absolutely mad, Tina thought to herself – but she was quite certain that she wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

 **Fun fact: Sofia is actually the capital of Bulgaria and I have zero-creativity with these things so…just go with it.**

 **Also, I'm aware Tina isn't *technically* British but, you know, it's more of a "you're from Britain" thing from the Healer. I don't know. I'm tired.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed – I was surprised by how much I enjoyed writing Dawkins, to be honest! I think I might have to add him in to more of my stories – I can just imagine him and Tina kicking ass as Auror partners! :D (also, it's my headcanon that he has a slight crush on her – poor boy!)**


End file.
